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SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS 



IN THE 



State of Vermont 




Constitution and By-Laws 



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8EP I / 1911 



ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION 

OF THE 

SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS 

IN THE 

STATE OF VERMONT 

Qurtered November 12, 1894 
Ors:anized and Incorporated November 20, 1894 



We, the subscribers, hereby associate ourselves together as a 
Corporation, under the Laws of the State of Vermont, to be 
known by the name of the Society of Colonial Wars in the 
State of Vermont, for the purpose of perpetuating the memory 
of the events of Colonial History happening from the settlement 
of Jamestown, Va, May 13, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 
April 19, 1775, and of the men, who in military, naval and civil 
positions of high trust and responsibility, by their acts or counsel 
assisted in the establishment, defense and preservation of the 
American Colonies, and were in truth the founders of this 
nation; and, to that end, of collecting and preserving manu- 
scripts, rolls and records; of providing suitable commemora- 
tions or memorials relating to the American Colonial period, 
and to inspire in its members the fraternal and patriotic spirit 
of their forefathers, and in the community respect and reverence 
for those whose public services made our freedom and unity 
possible, in each of the towns and cities in the State of Vermont, 
upon the following conditions: 

To establish proper rules and regulations for the conduct of 
the association for the purposes named ; for the choice of officers 



and the fees of members ; and for the admission of new members 
of the association under the rules established by the General 
Society of Colonial Wars. 

Dated at Montpelier, in the County of Washington, this 
twentieth day of November, A. D., 1894. 

[Signed by Edward Alonzo Chittenden, Urban Andrian 
Woodbury, Theodore Safford Peck, William Seward Webb, 
George Grenville Benedict, Robert Jackson Kimball, Horace Ed- 
ward Dyer, Frederick Nash Morton, Truman Chittenden Fletcher, 
John Grant Norton, Robert Noble, Austin Weld Fuller, Charles 
Spooner Forbes, William Paul Dillingham, Hiram Augustus 
Huse.] 



CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. 

The following revised draft of the Constitution and By- 
Laws, having been duly reported to the Council by a commit- 
tee appointed for that purpose, and having been approved by the 
Council, was adopted at the General Court, held at Burlington, 
February 24, 1903. 



• PREAMBLE. 

Whereas, It is desirable that there should be adequate cele- 
brations commemorative of the events of Colonial history hap- 
pening from the settlement of Jamestown, Va., May 13, 1607, 
to the Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775 ; 

Therefore, The Society of Colonial Wars has been instituted 
to perpetuate the memory of those events and of the men who 
in military, naval and civil positions of high trust and respon- 
sibility, by their acts or counsel assisted in the establishment, 
defense and preservation of the American Colonies, and were 
in truth the founders of this Nation. With this end in view it 
seeks to collect and preserve manuscripts, rolls, relics and 
records ; to provide suitable commemorations or memorials re- 
lating to the American Colonial period, and to inspire in its 
members the fraternal and patriotic spirit of their forefathers, 
and in the community respect and reverence for those whose 
public services made our freedom and unity possible. 



CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. 

NAME. 

The Society shall be known by the name and title of The 
Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Vermont. 

ARTICLE II. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

Any male person above the age of twenty-one years, of 
good moral character and reputation, shall be eligible to mem- 
bership in this Society, who is lineally descended in the male or 
female line from an ancestor: 

(i) Who served as a military or naval officer, or as a 
soldier, sailor or marine, or as a privateersman, under authority 
of the Colonies which afterward formed the United States, or 
in the forces of Great Britain which participated with those of 
the said Colonies in any wara in which the said Colonies were 
engaged, or in which they enrolled men, from the settlement of 
Jamestown, May 13, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, April 
19, 1775; or, 

(2) Who held office in any of the Colonies between the 
dates above mentioned, either as 

(a) Director-General, Vice-Director-General, or member 
of the Council or Legislative body, in the Colony of New Neth- 
erlands ; 

(b) Governor, Lieutenant or Deputy Governor, Lord 
Proprietor, member of the King's or Governor's Council or 
Legislative body, in the Colonies of New York, New Jersey, 
Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware ; 

(c) Lord Proprietor, Governor, Deputy Governor, or 
member of the Council or of the Legislative body, in Maryland 
and the Carolinas ; 

(d) Governor, Deputy Governor, Governor's Assistant, 
or Commissioner to the United Colonies of New England, or 
member of the Council body of Assistants or Legislative body 
in any of the New England Colonies. 



ARTICLE III. 

OFFICERS. 

The Officers of this Society shall be a Governor, a Deputy 
Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, a Secretary, a Deputy Secre- 
tary, a Treasurer, a Chaplain, an Historian, a Reg^istrar, a Chan- 
cellor and a Surgeon, who shall be elected at the General Court. 

These officers, together with the Deputy Governor General, 
(the Society's representative in the General Society) shall be 
ex-officio members of the Council. 

ARTICLE IV. 

GENTI^EMEN OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES. 

There shall be a Council consisting of six members, who 
shall be called "Gentlemen of the Council," — in addition to the 
ex-officio members ; a Committee on Membership, consisting of 
five members; a Committee on Collection of Historical Docu- 
ments and Records, consisting of five members, and a Com- 
mittee on Installation, consisting of five members. 

ARTICLE V. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 

The Council shall appoint a Nominating Committee of three 
members who shall not be officers, who, two weeks before the 
General Court of the Society, shall report to the Council a list of 
nominations of members to the various offices and committee 
places to be filled at the ensuing election. The Secretary shall 
send a copy of the said list to each member of the Society at least 
one week before the day fixed for the General Court. The of- 
ficers, together with the Gentlemen of the Council and Members 
of Committees, shall be elected by ballot. A plurality vote shall 
elect, and said officers and committees shall hold office for the 
period of one year, or until their successors shall be duly elected 
and qualified, except that at each election two Gentlemen of the 
Council shall be elected for a term of three years. Vacancies 
occurring shall be filled for the residue of the current year as 
provided in the By-Laws. 



ARTICLE VI. 

ADMISSION OF MEMBERS. 

Every application for membership shall be made in writing, 
subscribed by the applicant, and approved by two members of 
the Society over their signatures. Application shall be accom- 
panied by proof of eligibility, and such application and proof 
shall be referred to the Committee on Membership, who shall 
carefully investigate the same and report at the next meeting 
their recommendation thereon. Members shall be elected by 
vote at a Council of the Society duly called, but a negative 
vote of one in five of the ballots cast shall cause the rejection of 
any candidate. Payment of initiation fee and dues, and as- 
sent to the following declaration shall be necessary to complete 
membership. 



ARTICLE VII. 

DECLARATION. 

Every member shall declare upon honor that he will use 
his best eflForts to promote the purposes of the Society, and will 
observe the Constitution and By-Laws of the same, and if a 
citizen of the United States, shall declare that he will support 
the Constitution of the United States. When practicable such 
declaration shall be in writing and subscribed to by the member 
making it. 



ARTICLE VIII. 

PURPOSES. 

At every Council the purposes of the Society shall be con- 
sidered and the best measures to promote them adopted. No 
party, political question of the day or existing controversial re- 
ligious subject shall be discussed or considered at any meeting 
of the Societv, or of the Council. 



ARTICLE IX. 

COMMEMORATIONS. 

It shall be a regulation that members of the Society, when 
practicable, shall hold a celebration commemorative of some 
martial event in Colonial history, and dine together at least once 
in each year. 

ARTICLE X. 

the; seal. 

Previous to Vermont's Declaration of Independence the 
territory hitherto known as The New Hampshire Grants was 
claimed by the Provinces of New York and New Hampshire 
under conflicting authorizations from the English Crown. 
Charters of townships were granted by the royal governors of 
both provinces. The New York officers who undertook to dis- 
possess settlers holding their lands under grants from the Gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire, were resisted, and in some cases re- 
ceived what was known in that day as the application of the 
"Beech Seal" — being the administration of floggings with beech 
rods, called by Ethan Allen the "twigs of the wilderness." The 
officers of the first regularly organized corps of Green Mountain 
Boys were commissioned by the Province of New York. The 
Great Seal of the Vermont Society consists of a combination of 
the seals of New Hampshire and the original seal of New 
Netherlands, New York, while the beech seal of the Green 
Mountain Boys is represented by beech withes, which bind the 
ribbon at the base. A title scroll bears the figures "1724" and 
"1775," being the dates of the first permanent white settlement 
at Dummerston, and the end of the Colonial period. 

ARTICLE XI. 

INSIGNIA. 

The insignia of the Society shall consist of a badge, pendant 
by a gold crown and ring, from a watered silk ribbon one inch 
and a half wide of red, bordered with white and edged with red. 
The badge shall be surrounded by a laurel wreath in gold and 
shall consist of: 



wJfT.^^?''''''^' A T^'*-^ enameled star of nine points bordered 
vvith red enamel, havmg between each two starpoints a shieM 

wS'T^hr '"'^'T.°' "^^ ^^ ^^^ "'"^ original colonies and 
withm a blue enameed garter bearmg the motto 'Tortiter Pro 
J^atria, an Indian s head m gold rilievo. 

, ^f'^ff^; The star above described, but with gold edge 
each shield between the points displaying a mullet, and in the 
center within an annulet of blue bearing the title "Society 
of Colonial Wars 1607-1775," the figure of a colonial soldier 
m gold rilievo. The reverse of the crown of each insignia shall 
bear an engraved number corresponding to that of the registered 
number of the member to whom such insignia has been issued 
Ihe insignia shall be worn by the members on all occasions 
when they assemble as such, for any stated purpose or celebra- 
tion, and may be worn on any occasion of ceremony. It shall be 
worn conspicuously on the left breast; but members who are or 
have been Gentlemen of the Council of a State Society may place 
a rosette of regulation pattern upon the silk ribbon from which 
It is pendant. Members who are or have been General Officers 
or Officers of a State Society, may wear the insignia with three 
jewels in the crown, and suspended from a regulation ribbon 
around the neck. Members who are or have been Governors, 
Deputy Governors or Lieutenant-Governors of State Societies, 
or officers of the General Society, may, in addition to the 
insignia so suspended, wear a ribbon of the Society's colors, 
three and one-half inches in width, extending from the right 
shoulder to the left hip. The insignia shall be worn only as 
above described. 

ARTICLE XII. 

the; flag. 

The flag of this Society shall consist of the red cross of St. 
George on a white field, bearing in the center the escutcheon of 
the Vermont Society of Colonial Wars, surmounted by the 
Crown and surrounded by nine stars. 

ARTICLE XIIL 

ALTERATION OR AMENDMENT. 

No alteration or amendment of the Constitution of this 
Society shall be made unless notice shall have been given in 

7 



writing, signed by the member proposing the same, at a pre- 
vious meeting of the General Court. The Secretary shall send 
a copy of the proposed amendment to each member of the 
Society, specifying time and place of the Court at which the 
same will be voted upon. 

No amendment shall be made unless adopted by a two-thirds 
vote of the members present at the Court voting upon the same. 



BY-LAWS. 

SECTION I. 

INSTALLATION FEES. DUES. 

The initiation fee shall be ten dollars ; the annual dues 
three dollars payable on or before the firsts of January of each 
year, after which members who have not paid will be deemed in 
arrears and debarred from voting at the meetings of the Society. 
The payment at one time of twenty-five dollars shall exempt 
the member so paying from annual dues. 

SECTION 11. 

GOVERNOR. 

The Governor, or, in his absence, the Deputy Governor, or 
Lieutenant-Governor, or Chairman pro tempore, shall preside at 
all Courts of the Society, and shall exercise the duties of a pre- 
siding officer, under parliamentary rules, subject to an appeal to 
the Society. The Governor shall be a member ex-officio of all 
committees except the Nominating Committee and Committee on 
Membership. He. or in his absence from the State, or in- 
capacity to perform the duties of his office, the Deputy Gov- 
ernor, shall convene the Council upon the written request of 
two members thereof or of five members of the Society, and 
may otherwise convene the Council at his discretion. 

SECTION III. 

SECRETARY. 

The Secretary shall conduct the general correspondence of 
the Society. He shall notify all elected candidates of their ad- 
mission, and perform such other duties as the Society or his 
office may require. He shall have charge of the seal, certificates 
of incorporation, by-laws, historical and other documents and 
records of the Society other than those required to be deposited 
with the Registrar, and shall affix the Seal to all properly au- 
thenticated certificates of membership, and transmit the same 



to the members to whom they may be issued. He shall notify the 
Registrar of all admissions to membership. He shall certify all 
acts of the Society, and when required authenticate them under 
seal. He shall have charge of printing and of publications 
issued by the Society, and all publications donated to or ac- 
quired by purchase for the Society. He shall give due notice of 
the time and place of the holding of all courts of the Society and 
meetings of the Council, and shall mcorporate in said notice the 
names of all applicants for membership to be voted on at said 
Council, and shall be present at the same. He shall keep fair 
and accurate records of all the proceedings and orders of the 
Society and of the Council, and shall give notice to each officer 
who may be affected by them, of all votes, resolutions and pro- 
ceedings of the Society or the Council, and at the General Court, 
or oftener, shall report the names of candidates who have been 
admitted to membership and of any whose resignations have 
been accepted, and of any members who have been expelled for 
cause or who have failed to substantiate claim of descent. In 
his absence from any meeting the Deputy Secretary shall act, or 
a Secretary pro tempore may be designated. 



SECTION' IV. 

• TREASUREK. 

The Treasurer shall collect the dues and keep the funds and 
securities of the Society; and as often as such funds shall 
amount to one hundred dollars they shall be deposited in some 
bank in the State of Vermont, which shall be designated by the 
Council, to the credit of "The Society of Colonial Wars in the 
State of Vermont," and such funds shall be drawn thence on the 
check of the Treasurer for the purposes of the Society only. 
Out of these funds he shall pay such sums only as may be 
ordered by the Society or the Council, or his office may require. 
He shall keep a true account of his receipts and payments, and 
at each annual meeting render the same to the Society. 

For the faithful performance of his duty he may be re- 
quired to give such security as the Society may deem proper. 



10 



SECTION V. 



REIGISTRAR. 



The Registrar shall receive from the Secretary and file all 
the proofs upon which membership has been granted, with a 
list of all diplomas countersigned by him and all documents 
which the Society may obtain, and he, under direction of the 
Council, shall make copies of such papers as the owners may not 
be willing to leave in the keeping of the Society. 



SECTION VI. 

HISTORIAN. 

The Historian shall keep a detailed record of all' historical 
and commemorative celebrations of the Society, and he shall 
edit and prepare for publication such historical addresses, papers 
and other documents as the Society may see fit to publish ; also 
a necrological list for each year, with biographies of deceased 
members. 



SECTION VII. 

CHAPLAIN. 

The Chaplain shall officiate when called upon by the proper 
officers. 



SECTION VIII. 

CHANCELLOR. 

The Chancellor shall be a lawyer duly admitted to the bar, 
and it shall be his duty to give legal opinions on matters affect- 
ing the Society, without fee, when called upon by the proper 
officers. 

11 



SECTION IX. 

SURGEON. 

The Surgeon shall be a practicing physician. 
SECTION X. 

THE COUNCIL. 

The Council shall have power to call special Courts of the 
Society, and arrange for celebrations by the Society. They shall 
have control and management of the affairs and funds of the 
Society. They shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed 
by the Constitution and By-Laws, but they shall at no time be 
required to take any action or contract any debt for which they 
shall be liable. They may accept the resignation of any member 
of the Society. They may meet as often as required, or at the 
call of the Governor. Three members shall be a quorum for 
the transaction of business. At the General Court they shall 
submit to the Society a report of their proceedings during the 
past year. The Council shall have power to drop from the roll 
the name of any member of the Society who shall be at least 
two years in arrears and shall fail on proper notice to pay the 
same within sixty days, and on being dropped his membership 
shall cease, but he may be restored to membership at any time 
by the Council upon his written application and the payment of 
all arrears from the date when he was dropped to the date of 
his restoration. The Council may suspend any officer for cause, 
which must be reported to the Society and action taken on the 
same within thirty days. 

SECTION XI. 

VACANCIES AND TERMS OE OFEICE. 

Whenever an officer of this Society shall die, resign or neg- 
lect to serve, or be suspended, or be unable to perform his duties 
by reason of absence, sickness or other cause, and whenever an 
office shall be vacant which the Society shall not have filled by 
an election, the Council shall have power to appoint a member to 
such office pro tempore, who shall act in such capacity until the 
Society shall elect a member to the vacant office, or until the ina- 

12 



bility due to said cause shall cease; provided, however, that the 
office of Governor or Secretary shall not be filled by the Council 
when there shall be a Deputy or Lieutenant-Governor or Deputy 
Secretary to enter on these duties. The Council may supply va- 
cancies among its members under the same conditions, and should 
any member other than an officer be absent from three consec- 
utive Councils, his place may be declared vacant by the Council 
and filled by appointment until an election of a successor. Sub- 
ject to these provisions, all Officel-s and Gentlemen of the 
Council shall from the time of election continue in their respective 
offices until the next General Court, or until their successors are 
chosen. 

SECTION XII. 

RESIGNATION. 

No resignation of any member shall become effective unless 
consented to by the Council. 

SECTION XIII. 

DISQUALIFICATION. 

No person who may be enrolled as a member of this Society 
shall be permitted to continue in membership when his proofs of 
descent or eligibility shall be found to be defective. The Council, 
after thirty days' notice to such person to substantiate his claim, 
and upon his failure satisfactorily so to do, may require the Sec- 
retary to erase his name from the membership list. The said 
person shall have a right to appeal to the Society at its next 
Court, or at the General Court. If the said appeal be sustained 
by a two-thirds vote of the members present at such Court, the 
person's name shall be restored to the membership list. 

SECTION XIV. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

Members shall be elected by ballot at a meeting of the 
Council after report by the Membership Committee; but a 
negative vote of one in five of the ballots cast shall exclude any 
candidate. 

13 



SECTION XV. 

COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP. 

The Committee on Membership shall consist of five members. 
They shall be chosen by ballot at the General Court of the So- 
ciety, and shall be elected for the period of one year. Three 
members shall constitute a quorum, and a negative vote of three 
meml3ers shall cause an adverse report to the Council on the 
candidate's application. The proceedings of the Committee shall 
be secret and confidential, and a candidate v^ho has been rejected 
by the Council shall be ineligible for membership for a space of 
one year from the date of rejection, except upon the unanimous 
vote of the Committee. 

The Committee shall have power to make By-Laws for its 
government and for other purposes not inconsistent with the 
Constitution or By-Laws of the Society. 



SECTION XVI. 

EXPULSION OR SUSPENSION. 

Any member for cause or conduct detrimental or antagonis- 
tic to the interests or purposes of the Society, or for just cause, 
may be suspended or expelled from the Society. But no mem- 
ber shall be expelled or suspended unless written charges be 
presented against such member to the Council. The Council 
shall give reasonable notice of such charges, and afford such 
member reasonable opportunity to be heard and refute the same. 
The Council, after hearing such charges, may recommend to the 
Society the expulsion or suspension of such member, and if the 
recommendation of the Council be adopted by a majority vote of 
the member^ of the Society present at such Court, he shall be 
so expelled or suspended, and the insignia of said member shall 
thereupon be returned to the Treasurer of the Society, and his 
rights therein shall be extinguished or suspended. The Treas- 
urer shall refund to the said member the amount paid for the 
said insignia. 

14 



SECTION XVIL 

COURTS. 

The General Court of the Society, at which shall be held 
the annual election for officers, shall be held on the anniversary 
of the first permanent settlement at Fort Dummer, February 22, 
1724, or upon the following Tuesday if that anniversary falls 
upon Sunday. 

There shall be held a Social Court at such time as the Gov- 
ernor may deem advisable, the character of the entertainment to 
be in the discretion of the Council. 

Special Courts may be called by the Governor at such times 
as the interests of the Society may demand, and must be called by 
the Secretary on written request of five members. 

Notices of Courts shall be sent out at least five days before 
the date of each Court. 

SECTION XVIII. 

SERVICE OE NOTICE. 

It shall be the duty of every member to inform the Secretary 
by written communication of his place of residence and of any 
change thereof, and of his post-office address. Service of any 
notice under the Constitution or By-Laws on, any member, ad- 
dressed to his last residence or post-office address, forwarded by 
mail, shall be sufficient service of notice. 

SECTION XIX. 

DEATH OF MEMBERS. 

Upon the death of any member, notice thereof and the time 
and place of the funeral shall be published by the Secretary at 
least once in one daily newspaper in Vermont, and it shall there- 
upon become the duty of members, if practicable, to attend the 
obsequies. Upon official information of the death of a member, 
it shall be the duty of the Governor to appoint from the Society 
four members as a Committee to represent the Society at the 
funeral. Any member who becomes aware of the death of a 
fellow member shall make it his duty to see that the Secretary is 
properly notified of the fact. 

15 



SECTION XX. 

AIvTRRATlON OR AMENDMENT. 

No alteration or amendment of the By-Laws shall be made 
unless notice shall have been duly given in writing, signed by the 
member proposing the same, at a previous Court of the Society. 

The Secretary shall send a copy of the proposed amendment 
to each member of the Society, and state the time and place of 
the Court at which the same will be voted upon. No amendment 
or alteration shall be made unless adopted by a two-thirds vote 
of the members present at the Court voting upon the same. 



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